


Requiem for the Canary

by IceBlueRose



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Because honestly that's entirely what spawned this sequel, But since this is a sequel you should read it anyway, F/M, Gen, Legion!Sara Lance, This will make much more sense if you read the one shot by AgentMaryMargaretSkitz, Well I suppose it's pretty self-explanatory
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-06
Updated: 2017-08-30
Packaged: 2018-08-29 09:11:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8483683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IceBlueRose/pseuds/IceBlueRose
Summary: Leonard has no other option but to keep going now that Sara is gone. Until it turns out that Sara might not be as gone as he believed her to be - physically, at least.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AgentMaryMargaretSkitz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgentMaryMargaretSkitz/gifts).



> Like the tags say, this is a sequel to a one shot that AgentMaryMargaretSkitz wrote in volume one of her Tales of the Crook and the Assassin. If you haven't read it, read it [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6447835/chapters/15645796). (And then read every single other chapter of both volumes, okay?)
> 
> Thanks to StarryDreaming for helping me out with the title and summary because I hate figuring out both those things and she lets me throw ideas at her and whine that I can't think of anything then saves me, lol.
> 
> Just a fair warning, there's no regular update schedule set for this. It'll get updated whenever I get hit with inspiration.

Leonard felt numb most of the time and when he wasn’t numb, he was angry. He was angry that Sara was dead, that she’d sacrificed herself for him. He was angry over the lost future that they’d never get to have now.

He had to be angry because if he wasn’t angry then he’d break down again and he couldn’t do that. Not now and definitely not in front of the team.

He’d taken great pleasure in killing Savage in 1975. Normally, he’d have worked with Mick but they were both feeling the need to beat on something (or someone in this case) and so they’d split up, Mick going with Ray to 1958 and Leonard going with Firestorm to 1975. Ray and Firestorm would destroy the meteors while it would be up to Mick and Leonard to kill their respective versions of Savage.

Savage had become overconfident when he’d seen Leonard. One look at who was walking up to him and Savage had thrown his head back and laughed.

“Come now, a thief? I don’t even rate a visit from the assassin?”

Leonard had never been more glad for his goggles than he was at that moment. He was sure the look in his eyes would have given away exactly why Savage wasn’t facing off against the team’s assassin.

Instead, Leonard had let Savage believe that he easily had the upper hand and once Savage had dropped his guard, thinking he’d won, Leonard had shot him directly in the face with the cold gun. He had watched as Savage’s head and neck were surrounded by a block of ice before pushing to his feet, spinning the gun in his hands, and smashing the butt of it in Savage’s face as hard as he could, shattering it to pieces. He hadn’t felt any remorse, only grim satisfaction, as the body fell backwards.

He was still staring down at Savage’s body when Firestorm landed with a remark that was pure Jax.

“Ah, man, that’s nasty.”

Leonard glanced at him. “Something wrong with my method, kid?”

“Nope.” He shook his head. “I’m just saying that seeing his head in pieces is nasty. Never said he didn’t deserve it.”

Leonard smirked and nodded. They only had seconds before it was time to destroy the meteor and once that was done, they were disappearing to 2021, where Rip tried to pull one of the most idiotic stunts he’d ever heard of by flying the meteor to the sun and then time jumping away after ejecting it from the Waverider. (Seriously, that was more idiotic than the time Ramon had tried to convince him a vacuum was a larger version of the cold gun.)

Except once that was over, it left him with time to think and he couldn’t stop thinking about the look on Ray’s face when he’d shown back up in Central City and what he’d told them.

_“I told them about Sara,” he said. His jaw clenched and he blinked rapidly a few times. “I found out that her sister, Laurel, was killed by Damien Darhk a few months ago. They didn’t know how to flag the Waverider so Sara never knew.” He shook his head and looked to the right, staring at the trees as if they held all the answers. “Both the Canaries are gone now.”_

Leonard couldn’t deny that before he’d found out that Team Arrow, as Ray had referred to them, had killed Darhk, he’d been tempted to go after the man for Sara...and for himself. Laurel had been the one to bring Sara back, Laurel had been the one to encourage Sara to go on this mission.

He owed Laurel Lance.

Now that that wasn’t an option, he wasn’t sure what to do with himself. He’d tried going back to stealing whatever caught his eye when they’d first been dropped off in 2016 but his heart hadn’t been in it and they’d nearly gotten caught because he hadn’t planned it out nearly as well as he normally would have. Ray popping up as their getaway driver had just been one of many surprises that night.

Lisa had noticed something was off about him though she hadn’t pushed after he’d snapped at her the first time she tried. He figured that Mick had told her what had happened because the next time they had seen each other, she’d walked straight in to his arms and hugged him, something that she hadn’t done in years. There’d been no other indication that she knew what had happened after that and he was grateful for it.

Rip’s offer to get back on the Waverider and preserve the timeline appealed to him though. What else was he going to do now? He’d gone and become one of the good guys. One who stole things but, still, he’d helped save the world—hero was officially on his resume now it seemed.

Sara would probably get a kick out of that.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Birthday, Kate! It's short but I still hope you like it and I hope you've had a wonderful birthday!

When Rip had scattered them through time, Leonard had been pissed. It wasn’t enough that they’d gone to the one time that Rex Tyler had warned them against but now they were split up and in different times.

Landing in 1925, right as Johnny Torrio retired and Al Capone took over had been unexpected.

But it had also been something he needed. He’d researched Capone when he was younger, interested in how he’d taken over Chicago, and this felt like too good of an opportunity to pass up. 

So, he’d taken advantage of his knowledge and begun to take over Chicago himself, screwing over Capone when he could. If he was going to be stuck in time, he wasn’t going to just sit around and let someone else be the most known criminal, after all.

It was almost sad how easy it was. He hadn’t even needed his cold gun.

Then Mick had shown up with the rest of the team as well as a new guy that seemed to be as annoying as Ray with his ever present enthusiasm. And no matter what Ray might claim, nearly shooting the two of them in the head when he’d fired with both guns at the same time really had been an accident.

Really, if they didn’t want to get shot, they shouldn’t sneak up on the man holding two guns.

“I see you still make rookie mistakes,” he drawled as Ray started to calm down. Leonard glanced at Nate. “Who is this and why am I not shooting him?”

“This is Nate,” Ray said. “He’s the one that figured out where each of us was.”

Before anyone else could say anything, Mick stepped forward. “Building an empire without me, Boss?”

Leonard smirked a bit. “I couldn’t make it too easy for Capone, could I, Mick?”

Mick considered it for a minute and then lifted one shoulder in a half shrug, a small smirk on his face. “Yeah, wouldn’t be you if you did,” he agreed, studying Leonard. There were still signs of grief there but only if you knew what to look for. Otherwise, Mick had no doubt that the rest of the crew thought that Leonard was no longer really grieving for Sara. Well, the kid might suspect but Stein and Palmer tended to think of him and Leonard as hardened criminals first and regular people second. But the kid had gotten over that and he had a knack for seeing what they tried to hide.

It was because of that ability that Mick knew he and the kid would be the only two to realize that taking over Chicago and giving Al Capone a hard time was Leonard Snart’s own version of heroism. 

He was keeping more people from dying by getting Capone to focus on him.

As if to prove his thoughts, Stein shook his head. “Really, Mr. Snart, was that really the best course of action?”

Leonard narrowed his eyes. “It was _my_ course of action, Professor.”

“Why don’t we get back to the ship?” Nate said, cutting off any other response that might have been coming.

Leonard paused. Back to the ship would be getting back to the mission of preserving the timeline, he was sure. It would mean disasters of missions and teamwork.

It would mean living in the one place that was full of his memories of Sara.

Chicago had been easy to live in. They hadn’t stopped here together. He didn’t know what she looked like dressed as a flapper, he couldn’t remember her walking down the hallway of the building he lived in. There were no memories of the two of them bantering while taking down a group of Capone’s men together.

But the Waverider...

He’d sit and turn and be able to picture her sitting across from him. He’d walk in to a room and it’d be automatic to scan the room for her. He’d have access to her old room, to her things. He’d be able to go in there and remember.

_“I’ve been wondering what the future might hold for me...and you. And me and you.”_

_“You want to steal a kiss from me, Leonard? You better be one hell of a thief.”_

Leonard took a deep breath, remembering the spark of a challenge in bright blue eyes. “Yeah,” he agreed. “Let’s get back to the ship.”


	3. Chapter 3

Leonard’s eyes took in the bridge of the Waverider, lingering on the seat at the end that he usually sat next to. He wasn’t sure if he and Sara had just been that obvious about their feelings before she—before the Oculus or if he had just been that obvious about his own (not something he was happy about if that were the case) since then but no one ever sat in it as if there had been some sort of unspoken agreement made between the team.

His gaze moved to the captain’s chair and he let out a long breath as he remembered how comfortably Sara had sat there and the smirk she’d given him as she’d told him to strap in when they’d gone to rescue their teammates all those months ago. His eyes wandered over the rest of the area. It didn’t matter that Rip and Jax had remodeled the inside of the Waverider, Leonard could still see Sara wherever he looked—leaning against the console and giving him that amused smirk that said she wasn’t buying the BS coming out of his mouth, leaning against the side of his legs and his chair as they passed a bottle back and forth, the steel in her eyes as she refused to let Rip leave her on the ship in Star City in 2046, the way she’d sat just a seat away and focused on him as he talked about Mick, the small smile on her face as they’d lifted their glasses in a silent toast.

The hurt in her eyes when he had pulled the cold gun on her, the way they’d glistened as she’d refused to back down and had stepped towards him instead, calling his bluff, telling him that he wasn’t the same coldhearted bastard she’d met when they’d first started on their mission.

His hand curled in to a fist and he quickly shoved it in to his coat pocket before anyone could notice. He turned sharply, heading in the direction of the bedrooms.

He slowed when he neared Sara’s room. They hadn’t touched it, not even when the ship had been redone so that they each had their separate space. Jax had confessed that it didn’t feel right to pack up Sara’s things as if she’d never been a part of the team so he’d left everything the way it was. He’d apparently gone in there once to check something to do with the walls and then gone right back out.

Leonard hadn’t gone in there since the night they’d been at the Vanishing Point. He hadn’t wanted to look at her things, just waiting for her to come back and use them.

Today, however, he couldn’t resist. It didn’t matter that it was probably a bad idea—anyone could see him and then they’d ask what he was doing and he knew he didn’t want to deal with those questions—he didn’t care. 

He swiped his hand over the scanner and Sara’s door slid open for him, the way it had so many times before. Leonard hesitated only a moment, fighting back the nausea threatening to overwhelm him at the idea of entering Sara’s room for the first time since the Oculus. His breath was shaky and his throat felt like it was closing up even as he forced himself to enter a few steps, his eyes going immediately to the bed the way they had the last time. The sheets were still rumpled from where Sara had lain and then sat when he’d sprawled along the edge of the bed, looking up at her.

His nails dug in to his palm as he walked to the bed and stared down at it, eyes catching on the glint of a few strands of blonde hair on the pillow. Ignoring the sting in his palm, he slowly uncurled his fingers and turned, lowering himself to sit in the same spot he had last time, his fingertips trailing along the sheet until he reached the spot that Sara had been sitting. Leonard’s fingers curled in to the spot, clutching at the sheet.

_Leonard studied Sara for a moment, waving the deck of cards with a questioning look when she looked at him. He glanced down when she turned back to staring up at the ceiling._

_“Not in the mood.”_

_Leonard fought not to wince at the tone of her voice. “I was going to apologize for pulling a gun on you but, apparently, I was just following a script.” Which was bullshit and he knew it. Their actions were their own here at the Vanishing Point so he doubted she’d let him off the hook with such a half-assed apology._

_She didn’t even bother turning to look at him this time. “Doesn’t make you less of a jerk.” Despite her words, there was a slight change in her tone._

_He smiled slightly and inclined his head in acknowledgement. “Guilty.” He glanced back up at her. “So, what do we think of Rip’s plan?”_

_She scoffed. “Does it matter? Apparently everything we’re going to do has already been predetermined by Rip’s former bosses.”_

_He pushed away from the doorway, slowly walking towards her as he studied the cards in his hand. “It’s funny. I’ve always prided myself on being the guy who doesn’t play by the rules. Come to find out, I’m the one being played.”_

_Sara pushed herself up, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. “I don’t know. I still feel responsible for everything I’ve done and it still keeps me up at night.”_

_“It’s the things I didn’t do that keep me up at night.”_

_“What’s that?” she asked, following his progress as he neared her._

_“Oh, I don’t know.” Leonard leaned against the side of the bed, taking his usual spot to her left, never taking his eyes off the cards. “Maybe it’s being on this ship traveling through time. I started to wonder what the future might hold for me...and you...” He finally looked up, for once not bothering to hide the intensity of his feelings as his eyes met hers. “And me and you.”_

_Sara stared back at him for a few moments before she leaned towards him, mouth lifting in a slight smirk. “You want to steal a kiss from me, Leonard?” she asked, the challenge clear in her eyes. “You better be one hell of a thief.”_

Leonard closed his eyes as he remembered the relief that had flooded him with that last statement. He’d once said that very thing to her during one of their many card games.

_“I can’t believe you did that,” she laughed._

_Leonard smirked at her. “What can I say, Canary? I’m one hell of a thief.”_

The moment he’d heard that phrase come out of her mouth, he’d understood exactly what she was saying and he had smiled as she walked away, still pissed at him but leaving him with the knowledge that she was open to later talking about a future together.

Opening his eyes, Leonard clenched his jaw as he remembered that they’d missed out on the chance for any kind of future. He glanced to the right and paused when he saw the bottle on her nightstand.

Sara wasn’t one to wear makeup unless she had to but she never went without her favorite scent and he smiled slightly as he stared at it. He only hesitated a moment before leaning over to grab it. After a few moments of studying the bottle, he took off the cap and closed his eyes against the sting of tears he refused to let fall, breathing in the scent of vanilla and lavender that he’d come to associate with Sara.

He never noticed the man watching him from the doorway.

~*~*~

Martin stood frozen in the doorway of Sara’s room as he stared at the man that he had, less than an hour ago, dismissed as a ruthless, heartless criminal. He felt a wave of shame wash over him as he took in the sight of the raw grief on Leonard’s face as he sat on Sara’s bed and simply breathed in her favorite scent, realizing that for all that he had been on the same team with Leonard Snart for months now, he’d never truly gotten to know the man. How else could he explain the fact that he hadn’t even noticed the man was still deeply grieving the loss of Sara even now, months later?

Instead, Martin had assumed that because Leonard never spoke of Sara the way that the others sometimes did that the two hadn’t been as close as he had originally thought. He could admit now, to himself at the very least, that he’d thought them to have a friendship of convenience since it seemed that Leonard had moved on so easily. It had never occurred to Martin that Leonard was silently grieving and hiding it from the rest of them.

As Leonard hunched over, his fist clenched around the bottle as he took a shaky breath, Martin swallowed and vowed not to make any such assumptions about Leonard any longer.

Blinking back tears of his own, he silently backed away and continued on to his own room, leaving Leonard to grieve for Sara in solitude.


End file.
